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EFF filed an amicus brief with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, asking it to rule police must get a search warrant in order to access historical cell site information. We argued that as cell phones and especially smartphones become prevalent, and the number of cell towers and cell sites increases, the location information revealed by cell sites becomes more precise. Since location information provides details on a person's movements, associations and affiliations, we argue that it must be protected by a search warrant requirement.

In February 2014, the court agreed with us, ruling that police must obtain a search warrant in order to obtain long term cell site data.

Kit Walsh of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School served as our local counsel.

Massachusetts police must now get a search warrant before they can track a person's past movements through their cell phone in an important new decision that has implications beyond just cell tracking in the Bay State.
In Commonwealth v. Augustine, state police relied on federal law...

As the year draws to a close, EFF is looking back at the major trends influencing digital rights in 2013 and discussing where we are in the fight for free expression, innovation, fair use, and privacy. Click here to read other blog posts in this series.
As the ...

As the highest court in Massachusetts considers whether cell-site data is private in the context of the Fourth Amendment, we filed an amicus brief arguing that when the police want to be able to recreate your every step—figuring out your patterns of movement, where you've been and...